Paswan calls for govt’s dismissal

July 18: Union Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan today called for the alliance government’s dismissal over the `breakdown of law and order’ in Maharashtra. Paswan, who visited Congress leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s ransacked official residence on Sunday, remarked that the attack and continuing violence in other parts of the state was indicative of the state government’s administrative failure.

“This act of violence on a senior politician’s house occurred in a VVIP area where ministers live and is near Mantralaya,” Paswan noted. He was taken around by Bhujbal who gave details of Shiv Sainiks’ attempt to attack him. The government should be dismissed immediately since Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s justification of the attack amounted to encouraging the attackers, he felt. Regarding the police firing in Ghatkopar which claimed 11 lives, Paswan felt it could have been avoided if the garland of chappals on Ambedkar’s bust was quickly removed. He also felt that the police could have resorted to firing tear-gas first instead of opening fire. “The police fired 50 rounds of ammunition. Every single bullet found its mark on the dead and wounded. This clearly showed that the police shot to kill,” Paswan said. Paswan also criticised the government for not taking action against the police on the ground that it could affect the morale of the force. When asked if the Centre would dismiss the state government, Pawan said it was not for him to decide. “But to get anything from God also one has to chant Ram, Ram. This (the demand for dismissal) will also have to be said again and again.”

"I am not milking the episode for publicity"

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Congress leader Chhagan Bhujbal’s house looks as if the Shiv Sena hoodlums just escaped from the backdoor. Five days after it was ransacked, all signs of the violence are intact – a torn photograph of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, toppled chairs, broken vaces and smashed windows. There has been a constant stream of visitors at Bhujbal’s house since the attack. They are all received in the living room, but the former minister is careful not to offer them a seat.

The politician himself insists that he is not milking the episode for publicity. “I want the government to replace all the damaged fittings before this place is cleaned up,” Bhujbal told Express Newsline. Among the items which need replacement include telephones, a fax machine and office furniture. The Congress leader and his family live in their family house in Mazgaon. “However, as a senior politician I have a lot of visitors and I have no place to entertain them,” Bhujbal said.

Two rooms in the spacious bungalow have been cleaned up and are being used. Bhujbal’s bedroom and an attached ante room were not damaged in the attack. The Congressman also pointed out that senior police officials are still in the process of taking down his statement on the incident. “Some police officers looking into the matter were transferred subsequently. Yesterday, nobody could make it because of Arun Gawli’s morcha and today is a holiday, so the matter is progressing at a slow speed,” Bhujbal said.